Ian Liddell-Grainger

Ian Richard Peregrine Liddell-Grainger (born 23 February 1959) is a British Conservative politician and former property developer. He returned as MP for Bridgwater from 2001 until 2010, since then he has been MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset. He is a great-great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria.[1]

Major The Much Honoured

The Baron of Ayton

MP
Member of Parliament
for Bridgwater and West Somerset
Bridgwater (2001-2010)
Assumed office
7 June 2001
Preceded byTom King
Majority24,439 (42.3%)
Personal details
Born (1959-02-23) 23 February 1959
Edinburgh, Scotland
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)
Jill Nesbitt
(
m. 1985)
Children3
ParentsDavid Liddell-Grainger
Anne Abel Smith
Alma materMillfield School
Military service
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch/service British Army
Years of service1980–1997
RankMajor
UnitRoyal Regiment of Fusiliers

Early life

Liddell-Grainger was born on 23 February 1959 in Edinburgh to David Liddell-Grainger and Anne Liddell-Grainger (née Abel Smith).[2] The Liddell-Grainger family were landed gentry, of Ayton Castle, Scottish Borders, formerly of Middleton Hall, Middleton, Northumberland.[3] He was privately educated at Wellesley House School in the coastal town of Broadstairs in Kent and Millfield School in the town of Street, Somerset, before gaining a National Certificate of Agriculture at the South Scotland Agricultural College in Edinburgh.[2] Before entering Parliament he ran a 250-acre (1.0 km2) farm in the Scottish Borders from 1980-85[2] before becoming the managing director of his family's property management and development company.[2]

Commissioned in the Territorial Army, he was promoted Major serving with 6th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers,[2] and commanded the Machine-Gun Platoon and then X Company of the Battalion in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

He was elected for the Conservative Party as a District Councillor on Tynedale District Council in Northumberland, for the East Tynedale Ward, in 1991 - serving until 1995 when Labour took the seat.[4]

Parliamentary career

Liddell-Grainger unsuccessfully contested the seat of Torridge and West Devon for the Conservative Party at the 1997 general election, coming second to the Liberal Democrat candidate John Burnett.[2] However, he was elected to parliament at the 2001 general election for the safe Conservative seat of Bridgwater in Somerset, succeeding former cabinet minister Tom King. He held the seat at the 2005 general election before boundary changes created the new seat of Bridgwater and West Somerset which he retained with a nominally reduced share of the vote at the 2010 general election.[2][5] He was re-elected at the 2015 general election and 2017 general election.

The cancellation of plans to build new school buildings in Bridgwater in 2010 led Liddell-Grainger to threaten to "march" on Downing Street in protest.[6] The cancellation of the Building Schools for the Future projects was one of the first acts by the newly elected coalition government's Minister for Education Michael Gove. Liddell-Grainger claimed that Bridgwater's schools were in need of rebuilding and that the plans, which had cancelled projects in three of the town's six schools, were actually all under one project heading and had been working effectively.[6][7] Gove was forced to apologise for a number of errors in the cancellation of the project nationally[8] and the Bridgwater project was reconsidered by the government after Liddell-Grainger met Gove and it became apparent that Gove "wasn't aware of all the facts to do with the Bridgwater scheme".[9]

Liddell-Grainger is a member of the 18-strong British delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and currently heads one of the five political groups in the Assembly, the European Conservatives Group. He supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum.[10]

Liddell-Grainger chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Energy Studies, Nuclear Energy, the All-Party Pharmaceuticals group, the All-Party Dyslexia group, and the All-Party Tax group, and is also a member of the All Parliamentary Armed Forces Scheme with the Royal Air Force and the all Parliamentary Radio Group. When seen in the House of Commons he sits on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee and has previously sat on the Public Administration Committee, the Environmental Audit Committee, the DEFRA select committee, the Statutory Instruments (Select/Joint Committees), the Scottish Committee as well as the Crossrail Bill Committee.[11]

Political positions

Liddell-Grainger is regarded as being on the right wing of the Conservative Party, and is a member of the socially conservative Cornerstone Group – a ginger group within the Conservative Party. His interests include the economy, taxation, treatment for dyslexia, constitutional affairs, rural matters and he has also spoken out in favour of making Herceptin available for early-stage breast cancer sufferers.[12]

The Hinkley Point nuclear power stations are located in Liddell-Grainger's constituency. He considers that "the nuclear power industry has truly embraced the energy future of our country", and also that "nuclear energy plays an important role in my constituency and is behind the creation of numerous jobs and training opportunities".[13] He supported the decision in March 2013 to allow planning permission to build a third nuclear power station at the site.[14] He has voiced opposition to wind power schemes in his constituency, including plans to build two wind turbines at Wiveliscombe in 2012.[15]

According to the former minister Richard Benyon, Liddell-Grainger opposes bodies such as Natural England as a "default position". In 2010, Liddell-Grainger criticised plans by the Environment Agency and Natural England to create a wetland habitat at Steart on the Severn estuary as part of a realignment of coastal flood defences.[16] The project, which he said the nation "should not and must not afford", went ahead in 2012.[17][18]

Liddell-Grainger has been accused of abusive and bullying behaviour towards local councillors and council staff within his constituency. In 2010, he was reprimanded by the Conservative Party Leader and Chief Whip over his behaviour towards the former Chief Executive of Somerset County Council,[19] whilst in 2015 the majority of Conservative West Somerset councillors backed calls for him to be deselected for "divisive" and "unsupportive" behaviour. In March 2015, West Somerset Council Leader Tim Taylor compiled a dossier of complaints, which was sent to the Conservative Party chairman and chief whip. Taylor described Mr Liddell-Grainger as a "disgrace to the Conservative Party".[20][21]

Liddell-Grainger was re-selected for the following general election in May 2015 by the Conservative Association of Bridgwater and West Somerset. In September 2018, Liddell-Grainger criticised the Conservative run Somerset County Council for cutting services and carrying out wasteful reorganisations. The Leader of the Council responded that the MP's comments were 'ignorant and lacked understanding', that the MP had refused to meet him to discuss the subject and that Government funding cuts were to blame for cuts to services.[22]

In 2006, Liddell-Grainger was disqualified from the WriteToThem league table after faking e-mails and replies to himself to improve his "responsiveness rating" on a website which helps people contact their elected representatives. Liddell-Grainger's spokesman commented that the e-mails had been sent to test the data that the website was judging him on.[23]

At the 2010 general election Liddell-Grainger declined to attend any election hustings or to take part in the BBC's election coverage.[24][25] A Facebook group was set up asking "Where's Ian Liddell-Grainger?"[24] Liddell-Grainger said that he was busy canvassing and dealing with casework.[24]

In February 2014, in the context of flooding on the Somerset Levels, Liddell-Grainger called the chairman of the Environment Agency, Baron Smith of Finsbury a "little git", and a "coward" and claimed he would "stick his head down the loo and flush".[26] The floods took place after exceptionally bad weather. Liddell-Grainger placed the blame for the floods on the Environment Agency's policy of not dredging the local rivers,[27] and said that he would be consulting with Dutch hydrological experts.[28] The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management said increased dredging would not have prevented the current flooding in the Somerset Levels – due to the sheer amount of water.[29] One expert, a hydrologist and professor of Water Management at Cardiff University, said: "I cannot see that dredging would make much impact in alleviating the problems in the Somerset Levels."[30]

In December 2016, he failed to renew his firearms licence on time for the shooting season. He had previously criticised young voters who had been unable to register to vote in the EU referendum because the government website crashed on the last day of registration, saying they should 'pay the price for their own tardiness'. Liddell-Grainger blamed the police for his licence delay, criticising their "utter incompetence".[31] Following the incident, the satirical magazine Private Eye, published an article that asked if the actions of the MP, coupled with his continued electoral success, meant that he was 'Somerset's answer to Donald Trump'.[32]

In June 2018, he was accused of trivialising suicide by political rivals after shouting out that representatives of the SNP should consider 'suicide' after the SNP's Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, asked John Bercow, the sitting speaker, a question about Scotland's future following Brexit. He later defended his comments, stating he was referring to 'political suicide'.[33]

Expenses

Liddell-Grainger employs his wife as his Parliamentary Assistant on a salary up to £35,000.[34] The practice of MPs employing family members was criticised by some sections of the media on the lines that it promotes nepotism.[35][36] Although MPs who were first elected in 2017 have been banned from employing family members, the restriction is not retrospective – meaning that Liddell-Grainger's employment of his wife is lawful.[37] In 2010, he had included both his wife and his two eldest children on his list of staff, the only MP to do so at the time in the country.[38]

Liddell-Grainger claimed a total of £166,109 in expenses, including for office, staffing and travelling costs, during 2007–8.[39] In December 2009, he faced criticism for claiming expenses for a cleaner for his second home in London and for claiming £375-a-month on expenses for food. He responded that the figures were reasonable and proportionate.[40] Later that month it was reported that he had been asked to pay back £3,200 of expenses payments he had claimed incorrectly.[41] Under revised regulations, during 2010–11 he claimed the reduced sum of £147,004 for expenses, the sixth highest of all MPs in that year.[42]

Personal life

Liddell-Grainger is a great-great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria and thus in the line of succession to the British throne.[43] His great-grandmother was Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone.[44] His great-grandfather, the 1st Earl of Athlone, was great-grandson of King George III and brother of Queen Mary, wife of King George V. He is also a great-grandson of the 12th Earl of Lindsey and a second cousin, once removed of Queen Elizabeth II.

Liddell-Grainger married Jill Nesbitt in 1985; she is now his parliamentary secretary.[45] The couple have three children.[2]

In 2007, he succeeded the Scottish feudal barony of Ayton, Berwickshire.

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References
  1. McSmith, Andy (3 February 2014). "Andy McSmith's Diary: The not-so-great, great-great-great grandson of Queen Victoria". Independent. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  2. "Liddell-Grainger, Ian Richard Peregrine, (born 23 Feb. 1959), MP (C) Bridgwater and West Somerset, since 2010 (Bridgwater, 2001–10)". Who's Who. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.42373.
  3. Burke's Landed Gentry, 18th edition, vol. I, ed. Peter Townend, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1965, p. 330
  4. "Tynedale Council Election Results 1973-2007" (PDF). Plymouth University. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  5. Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger Archived 5 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine, www.parliament.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
  6. Bridgwater MP threatens to march for new schools Archived 28 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine, BBC Somerset news website, 8 July 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
  7. School building cuts: Hard-hit areas Archived 20 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine, BBC news website, 19 July 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
  8. Michael Gove apology over school building list errors Archived 19 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine, BBC news, 8 July 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
  9. Bridgwater MP says school schemes axing to be reviewed Archived 16 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine, BBC Somerset news website, 13 July 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
  10. Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
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  12. "£50m to step up war on cancer". Bath Chronicle. 28 July 2010. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  13. NIA Industry Link magazine, issue 35, spring 2012
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  23. "Site axes MP over 'fake' e-mails". BBC News. 21 February 2006. Archived from the original on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
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  25. MP candidate pledges Archived 22 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Bridgwater and West Somerset, BBC website, 28 April 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
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  45. "Pay and Expenses". Ian Liddell-Grainger. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Tom King		 Member of Parliament for Bridgwater
2001–present		 Incumbent
Lines of succession
Preceded by
Anne Liddell-Grainger		 Line of succession to the British throne
(descended from Leopold, son of Victoria)		 Succeeded by
Peter Liddell-Grainger
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